THE SONGS OF " ROOKWOOD." 63 



Upon one with woes o'erladen, 



Kneeling lowly at thy shrine ; 

 Sainted Virgin ! martyr'd maiden ! 

 Let thy countenance incline. 

 Mei miserere, Virgo, 

 Requiem ceternam dona / 



" By thy loveliness thy purity, 



Unpolluted undefiled, 

 That in serene security 



Upon earth's temptations smiled ; 

 By th6 fetters that constrained thee, 



By thy flame-attested faith ; 

 By the fervour that sustained thee, 



By thine angel-ushered death ; 

 By thy soul's divine elation, 



'Mid thine agonies assuring 

 Of thy sanctified translation, 



To beatitude enduring; 

 By the mystic interfusion 



Of thy spirit with the rays 

 That in ever-bright profusion 



Round the throne eternal blaze ; 

 By thy portion now partaken, 



With the pain-perfected Just ; 

 Look on one of hope forsaken, 



From the gates of mercy thrust ; 

 Upon one with woes o'erladen, 



Kneeling lowly at thy shrine, 

 Sainted Virgin ! martyr'd maiden, 



Let thy countenance incline. 

 Ora pro me mortis liord 

 Sancta Virgo oro te ! 

 Kyrie Eleison /" 



Take the following as a contrast : 



" THE TWICE-USED RING. 



" ' Beware thy bridal day,' 



On her death-bed, sighed my mother ; 

 ' Beware beware, I say, 



Death shall wed thee, and no other. 

 Cold the hand shall grasp thee, 

 Cold the arms shall clasp thee, 

 Colder lips thy kiss shall smother- 

 Beware thy bridal kiss. 

 " < Thy wedding ring shall be 



From a clay-cold finger taken ; 

 From one that, like to thee, 

 Was by her love forsaken. 

 For a twice-used ring 

 Is a fatal thing; 

 Her griefs who wore it are partaken 



Beware that fatal ring. 

 " < The altar and the grave, 



Many steps are not asunder ; 



Bright banners o'er thee wave, 



Shrouded horror lieth under. 



